


Family Activity

by IsobelSionisFalcone



Series: Daughter of Steel [6]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Danse is a proud Daddy, M/M, Multi, Other, Solving the mystery, feral ghouls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-26 04:47:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12549244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IsobelSionisFalcone/pseuds/IsobelSionisFalcone
Summary: Danse and Hailey push on through the airport to find Clarke.





	Family Activity

The two walked side by side through the terminal, Danse's heavy, armoured footfalls obscuring the deafening silence. Hailey could also pick a lock and hack basic terminal security, much to his surprise. He supposed she had been listening during the field training sessions, but it didn't dull his pride.

There were still ferals crawling around every corner, so he was conscious of standing guard as she picked the padlock on an old suitcase left in a luggage trolley.

"Keep your safety off," Danse advised, wary of the gaps in the walls and dark corners.

Hailey already had the case open and was rifling through it. She pocketed a few bobby pins and a pair of gloves before she pulled out a glittery red dress, the sleeves off the shoulders and the neckline low.

"This is nice," she said hopefully, holding it up for closer inspection.

"Not a chance, sport," Danse replied flatly. "We should keep searching for Clarke. He could be anywhere."

Hailey grumbled as she dropped the dress and returned her attention to the task at hand. They dealt with two small packs of ferals, the teenager taking up sniping positions behind rusted out cars whilst Danse went in close. Together, they ensured that no abomination was left alive and for the first time, Hailey felt like part of a team. She realised that turning hideously mutated humans to ashes wasn't the least unorthodox way to have fun, but spending time (and kicking ass) with her father topped her list of the best ways to spend her free time.

"Hey, Dad?" she asked as they came to a check in desk.

"Hm?"

"Did you bring any RadAway? I uh... I didn't think about..." she trailed off as she sat in front of a terminal.

"No," he replied. "We'll have to report to Cade when we return to the Prydwen. You feeling alright?"

"Uhuh," she nodded, proceeding to hack into the terminal. "I just... What if this turns out to be nothing?"

"What? The Investigation?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "I mean, what if we came all the way here for nothing? I promised I'd solve this. I'm going to look pretty stupid if I can't do it and I told Dad that I could. And Captain Kells."

Danse turned to face her, his back to the broken sliding doors. "You've taken this further than anyone else was able to," he pointed out. "You know your father and I are always proud of you, Hailey."

She didn't quite know how, but he could always see right through her. She might as well have been transparent. Danse was far more perceptive than he let on.

"I know..." she mumbled. "I want to make sure I do something that's actually worth that pride. I don't want to fail! This is important to me and I love you guys! I don't-

"Hailey."

"Yeah?"

"Both your father and I love you very much," Danse said, stepping forward so that their eyes met over the top of the terminal. "You mean everything to us. We're proud of you because we believe in you, no matter how many reservations we have about sending you out on your own. Is that clear, soldier?"

"Yes, sir," she replied with a giggle.

The doors behind Danse slid open at last, thanks to her knack for hacking. "Alright," the Paladin said. "Let's keep moving, soldier-

Danse stopped short when the now exposed corridor was illuminated by an eerie green glow. Hailey's heart began to pound as it pulsed and became ever brighter, as if whatever was emitting it was drawing closer.

"Uh, Dad..."

"Stay back, Hailey," he warned. "I don't want you getting hurt."

By now, they could hear lumbering footsteps and ragged, rasping breathing. The teenager crouched behind the end of the desk, hiding as much of her body as possible behind the rotting wood, and kept her rifle aimed at the doorway. Finally, the hideous, vicious creature that emerged made Hailey tremble. A glowing green feral with horribly mutated limbs staggered towards them and snarled, lunging forward a moment later.

Danse opened fire, but Hailey struggled to look at the monster. She was frozen with fear, breathing hard as she watched her father knock the feral back with the butt of his rifle. She bit her lip until it bled, cowering behind the desk as the sound of lazer fire echoed and the smell of burning, rotted flesh made her eyes water. Only a disgruntled cry of pain from the Paladin was enough to force her limbs into moving. With shaking hands, she clicked off the safety on her rifle and took several deep breaths, convincing herself that it was her fault her father was down here. She couldn't let him get hurt trying to protect her.

On the count of three, she mustered barely enough courage to poke her head out and take aim. Again, she couldn't help but pause as the sickening creature came into view. When it stumbled forward and Danse moved aside, she saw her opportunity to open fire. Thankfully, it fell to the floor and she was able to get several well-placed shots to its head. With the combination of both of them firing, the feral turned to ashes at last and Hayley stared at the smoking pile.

Danse did not hesitate, pacing towards his daughter to help her up. "Are you alright?" he asked cautiously. "I didn't expect to find one of those down here."

Hailey swallowed thickly before making her reply. "What the hell was that thing?"

The Paladin carefully placed his hand on her back to steer her out of the room and away from the pile of ashes. She couldn't tear her eyes from it until they'd rounded the corner to the lowest levels of the terminal.

"They're called 'Glowing Ones'," Danse replied. "Are you sure you're not hurt? You don't feel sick?"

"No," she said. "I'm... I'm okay. Really." She added when he looked doubtful. "It just surprised me a little. That's all."

"You need to tell me if something's wrong," he persisted. When Hailey rolled her eyes and sighed, he said; "Listen, I know you're a teenage girl and you get tired of your parents nagging you all the time, but we do it because we care about you."

"I'm not stupid, Dad," she said. "I wouldn't carry on if I didn't feel right. I know I said this is important to me, but I need more experience. I can't get it if I make bad calls."

Danse was a little surprised to hear that amount of maturity from Hailey. "I'm glad you pay attention to what we tell you," he smiled. "We must be getting close by now. I think we're as far down as we can go."

Indeed, they only had to walk a little further until the walls had large squares cut out, like windows had sat in wooden frames there before the bombs fell. She didn't need her father to tell her that this would be a perfect spot for an ambush; she listened well enough during the field training drills to know that the corners and low light spelled danger.

Danse hung back as Hailey crouched under one of the glass-less windows. She listened carefully, able to distinguish the horrid munching that could only be from feral ghouls. She hoped that whatever they were chewing on, it wasn't Clarke's corpse. The teenager cautiously peered over the wall and, sure enough a group of the mutated creatures were huddled around something. She couldn't quite see what, but at least it didn't look like a body. Upon craning her neck to get a better view, she caught sight of a moving, human figure at one of the windows around the corner - Clarke.

He hadn't seen her yet, so Hailey watched him for a moment. Instead of killing the ferals, she saw him toss an opened tin of Cram down. Was he... Feeding them? It certainly looked that way. She had to get to the bottom of this. Her father was depending on her.

"See?" Clarke said. "That's nice, isn't it?"

She stayed low and Danse followed, creeping along the corridor that was littered with debris and broken light fittings. Before she could confront the Initiate, Danse lay a hand on her shoulder.

"Exercise extreme caution, Hailey," he said. "If he's been caught out, he might resort to violence."

The teenager nodded, reloaded her rifle, and stepped into the light. Aiming it at him might have been a little heavy handed, so she kept the safety off instead and startled him.

"Alright, Initiate," she said. "You've got a lot of explaining to do. By the power placed in me by senior officers of the Brotherhood, I'm authorised to demand answers."

"No, wait!" he cried, cheeks flushed as he became increasingly flustered. "This... This isn't what it looks like! Just give me a chance to explain. It's been working, I swear!"

"What do you mean 'it's been working'?" she asked, her brows furrowed in confusion. "Is that why all of this is down here?" she gestured to the crates of food piled up against the walls. "Have you been stealing supplies from the depot to feed these things? You're creating a massive security risk doing that. What if they surfaced and attacked the airport?"

Clarke sighed in frustration. "Look, when we first took the airport... The whole place was infested with them. Having to kill them was bad enough, but why hunt down the ones that ran? They were trying to escape!" He shook his head and sighed once more. "I had a friend who became a ghoul. Would you have killed him, if he was your friend?"

"Was he a feral ghoul?" Hailey asked.

"What does it matter?" Clarke cried. Hailey's trigger finger twitched, so he intook breath to steady his nerves and regain a little of his fading self control. "It doesn't matter now, anyway. I just thought... Maybe I fed them, they wouldn't need to search for something to eat and they'd just stay down here. I didn't mean to cause trouble."

Hailey bit her lip, knowing her father was listening from the shadows. She was now left with quite the decision to make.

"What are you going to do with me?" Clarke asked miserably. She couldn't deny that she felt just a little sorry for him. Not that she'd ever condone what he was doing, of course, but what could she do? Then, she had an idea.

"You need to turn yourself in," Hailey told him gently.

Clarke shrugged, utterly downcast. "You're right," he exhaled heavily. "It's the honourable thing to do. What about the ghouls? You... You won't kill them?"

She swallowed, peering down at the seemingly docile ferals, before turning back to Clarke. She knew what she should do, what was expected of her, but her emotions were getting the better of her. With a defeated sigh, Hailey said; "As long as they stay down here and don't hurt anyone..."

That seemed to put the Initiate's mind at ease a little. "Thanks," he said, "for understanding. Sort of, anyway. And here," he handed her a key card with 'Boston Airport Employee' printed on it. "This'll let you access the elevator. I'll be up soon, I just... I need a moment."

Hailey respected his wish and left him be, returning to her father. She knew the ferals wouldn't stay down here for long if there was no one to keep feeding them. They'd have to be taken care of, eventually, but that wasn't something she wanted to think about.

"Well done, soldier," Danse said and suddenly, she remembered she had succeeded in solving the mystery. She had proven she could hold her own! "You handled it like a true professional," he continued as they entered the elevator. "I'm proud of you, Hailey."


End file.
